


Lethe

by peppermintquartz



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hades is Hannibal, M/M, Persephone is Bedelia, Time doesn't matter to Gods, Will is Will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-07 19:36:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4275429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peppermintquartz/pseuds/peppermintquartz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Persephone away Above, the dead were denied even that final, fleeting glimpse of Life. Judgment after judgment meted out, punishment given to the deserving, dull duties delivered dutifully. Not for the first time in millennia, Hades was beginning to feel the lure of mortality. To live, just once, from birth to death. Experience humanity as his brothers and sisters had done.</p><p>But he had a duty as king and jailer of the dead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lethe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Polanetta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polanetta/gifts).
  * Translation into Tiếng Việt available: [Lethe (Translation)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5611636) by [mabeo2610](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mabeo2610/pseuds/mabeo2610)



> Prompt: "Hanni as Hades, Will is Will, Hades wants to have him instead of Persephone (but Hades absorbs her magic to give it to Will) & kidnaps W."
> 
> Obviously I didn't follow this completely (thanks Pola for giving me free rein) but yes Hades!Hannibal and Persephone!Bedelia.

With Persephone away Above, the dead were denied even that final, fleeting glimpse of Life. Judgment after judgment meted out, punishment given to the deserving, dull duties delivered dutifully. Not for the first time in millennia, Hades was beginning to feel the lure of mortality. To live, just once, from birth to death. Experience humanity as his brothers and sisters had done.

But he had a duty as king and jailer of the dead.

In his musings, he had forgotten about the shade his judges had just sent into his halls, the ghost of a young man who now stood before him. His bearing was neither humble nor fearful. He was just watching and waiting.

Curious.

“Your name, mortal,” said Hades.

“Will. Will Graham,” said the young man, and smiled very briefly. A lovely smile, regardless. So few dared smiled in Hades' presence.

The lord of the dead straightened in his throne. This one promised to be interesting. “Something amuses you.”

“I wasn't expecting this,” said Will Graham. “I was raised to believe in God and Hell but this... and you. God of the dead. Next I’m going to expect Isis and Sekhmet. Maybe Santa Claus.”

“All gods are gods,” said Hades. He stood and walked down the few steps to where Will Graham stood. “Different names, same functions. I like what the Greeks have named me; they showed me the proper respect due one in charge of their dead.”

“So you are Hades,” said Will Graham loudly, craning his neck up to see the god. Hades could hear the mortal with no difficulty, but he did not say that to the ghost.

“Yes, though no human has called me that to my face.”

Will Graham shrugged. “At this moment I am saying that to your knee. Or your ankle.”

Hades briefly flicked through Will Graham's memory. One face stood out in stark relief in the mortal's mind, and Will Graham had colored this impression with fondness and curiosity and... longing.

Sharp cheekbones, eyes the color of dried blood – very apt – and sensual lips. Silver-gold hair, neatly swept from his brow and temples. Even his clothes left an indelible impression in Will Graham's mind, but Hades opted for a pure black suit.

“Perhaps this form is one you find easier to speak with,” he said once he had shifted into this person's shape, like water filling a vessel. His true power streamed behind him, a shadow wrought large even amid shadows.

Will Graham stared, jaw slack, and then burst into laughter – a sound that had not rung in these cold halls since its inception. The human laughed and laughed and laughed, until he was bent over double, clutching his middle. He finally looked up, his mouth contorted with twisted amusement. Tears streaked his cheeks, gleaming in the pale blue flames of the hall.

“That... I don't know if you mean to be cruel or kind.” Will Graham straightened and licked his lips. “Or neither. Both.”

Hades tilted his head. “Enlighten me. Who is this person?”

“My best friend,” said Will Graham. And then he added with a brittle smile, “You're wearing the face of my best friend, who's also my murderer.”

*****

 _Whimsy. You need to indulge in it more frequently, my dear,_  Persephone once said, early in their marriage.  _In this form._

 _The God of the Underworld is not whimsical, beloved,_  Hades had told her then with a rare smile.  _Except that which led to my bringing you here._

_You abducted me._

_And you chose to ate the pomegranate seeds._

_I am the chosen and the one who chooses,_  she had said, laughter in her eyes bright and brilliant as the jewels he had adorned her with.  _And you will forever be painted the villain._

Hades had kissed her then.  _They fear death, these mortal beings. I am not unused to their hatred and fear._

*****

Ever since the young man had come into his hall, Hades had kept him close, though for what reason Hades could not explain. Will Graham was one who imagined the darkness and saw the dead; in the past he would have been hailed an oracle or be killed as a witch.

Sometimes they conversed; sometimes they let silence wrap about them like a cocoon. Sometimes they sat in the hall, Hades on his throne, Will Graham on a chair next to him. Sometimes they walked, as they did now, beside the river Lethe.

“Isn't it crowded here in the Underworld?” he asked. Gems and precious metals glittered at their feet; material wealth was of no use here. Only Charon hoarded coins, but those were rare now; so few followed the tradition. Will Graham wore no shoes now – there was no point, the chill of the Underworld was pervasive, and as a mortal shade, Will Graham did not feel the cold anyway. Hades himself chose to remain clad as the man in Will Graham's mind. The young man refused to provide a name, and while Hades could certainly elicit it through force or trickery, he would rather earn the trust.

A challenge, at the least.

“Every soul is but a memory.” Hades strolled ahead, keenly aware of the young man following a respectful three paces behind. “They fade into nothing when they are forgotten.”

“I see.” Will Graham tossed a ruby the size of a chicken's egg into the dark waters. “Was Achilles a real person?”

“Yes. Arrogant, ruthless, bloodthirsty. Self-aggrandizing.”

“What about Patroclus?”

“He had a softer heart than Achilles, for all he tried to emulate the latter. I consider him a better man.”

“They are still remembered today.”

“They are faint echoes of what they were,” said Hades.

Will Graham fell silent for a while. Hades did not attempt to initiate conversation. After a while, the mortal said, “My friend said it took divine intervention to bring them down.”

With a glance over his shoulder, Hades said, “Humans destroy themselves without the aid of the gods. They prefer to blame us than see their own weaknesses.”

Will smiled, wistfulness tinting his voice. “Wonder what he'll say to that.”

“You hold no rancor nor hatred for him?”

“Why should I? He does what he does because he is what he is.” Will Graham picked up another gem, an emerald this time, and skipped it over the gray waters of the Lethe. He stared at the ripples like they would reveal a truth.

*****

Persephone returned to find Hades and Will Graham seated at a low table, rich wine and good food shared between them. Hades had lost count of Above time.

 _My queen,_  said Hades, rising to greet her with a kiss to her soft cheek, changing form as he stood; she still bore the warmth of of the sun in her skin, and her scent was of rich earth and fresh breezes.  _How fares the world Above?_

 _As well as can be expected,_  said Persephone, kissing Hades on his mouth. She tastes of butter and daisies and new carrots and berries.  _And you have found yourself a beauty._

Hades returned to the form Will Graham was accustomed to; the mortal was on one knee, respectful and demure. It made Hades smile – the man would not bow to him, but he would kneel for the queen of the Underworld. It was not to flatter – Will Graham was disarmingly genuine, very different from many who came to his halls these days – but to demonstrate old-world courtesy.

Clearly it charmed Persephone too. She shook out her long hair, a fall of sunbeams in the perpetual gloom of the Underworld, and shifted form into her current human shape.

Hades offered his wife the seat. “This young man is Will Graham.”

“We've met,” said Persephone. She helped Will Graham rise to his feet and looked into his eyes. “I wish we could've met again under different circumstances, Mr Graham.”

“Dr du Maurier.” Will Graham stammered and licked his lips. “You-you are... You're Persephone.”

“One of my many names, yes.”

“But...”

“Time does not affect gods,” she said with a small smile.

Will Graham nodded. “And... him?”

“He's still alive, and he is free. For a given value of free. But he will always carry a memory of you like an anchor around his neck,” said Persephone, quiet and regal. “To the end of his days he will never be able to let you go. Every sip of wine, every bite of meat, every note in every song. I have seen to it.”

Expressions raced over Will Graham's features, so rapid that even Hades was not quite able to decipher each one. Then again, Hades had had little need to understand how humans thought and felt. The mortal bowed low over Persephone's hand and kissed her fingers.

“He will join you here, eventually,” Hades said, though he knew not why.

Will Graham looked at him and then away. “Perhaps.”

*****

 _He is dear to you, my husband,_ said Persephone as they lay together that night.

_Will Graham?_

_A mortal to walk by your side, and you showing him everything he desired._  She skimmed her fingers over his jawline and then pressed her mouth to his cold lips.  _Do you want him?_

_I am not like my brothers._

_No, you are better than they, for they have forsaken their duties while you toil at yours. The reward for toil is more toil, the payment for duty is more duty._ She let him roll her onto her back and wrapped her legs about him, accepting him into her heat, drawn from her time Above.  _But he is a shade, and all who died are not allowed to leave. Do you want him?_

Hades gazed at his wife, and her long blonde hair. He wound a golden lock around a hand, marveling at its texture and light.

_Yes._

_It is not wrong to want, my dear,_  said Persephone.  _I am not Hera, and I want you happy even when I am gone. Trust me – he will not turn you away._

*****

In times long past, Hades would have just taken what he wanted.

He was a god, after all. Compassion and cruelty were human inventions.

And yet...

And yet.

This day he had set Will Graham a task: to groom Cerberus while he and his queen presided over the courts of the damned. He needed a clear head. Yet he felt the desire to have the mortal close, within sight, or better yet, within reach. Too frequently his gaze would fall on the empty chair beside his throne, and listen to the silence of wild, bitter laughter. Too frequently he would lean down to share a thought only to recall that there was no one to hear, and then he would straighten in his throne.

Persephone watched him through all this, and eventually grasped his hand whenever he started to stoop.

 _Whimsy_. Whimsy was dangerous; Hades had to be fair and just. He was the god of the dead, their king and their jailer.

He could not afford whimsy.

*****

When the damned had been dealt with according to their crimes, Hades sought out Will Graham. The ghost was petting Cerberus, who was lying on his belly, petting each monstrous head in turn; Cerberus made sounds of contentment with the affection shown.

Hades waited until Will Graham had soothed the huge dog to his satisfaction, before telling the young man to come with him.

In the dim gardens of Hades' halls, clusters of jewels bloomed like far-off stars. Black-leafed trees offered ruby-red pomegranates, and Hades plucked one. A living mortal would have been crushed by its weight. This was a fruit for the divine or the dead.

“I have come to a decision,” said Hades. “I will return you Above, to the moment before your death, such that you have never died.”

Will Graham stilled. “Why?”

“I want you while you are here, and I cannot bear the thought of sending you from my side. This desire impedes me in my duty,” said Hades.

“But... but the time we've spent together... The walks by the river, Cerberus, the fields-”

“I thank you for giving me such delights; my duties had long become routine and dull. You changed the tedium of my days, and you have changed me.”

Something in the mortal's gaze shattered.

Hades reached out with his left hand and cupped Will Graham's cheek. “For all that I am a god, you have made me feel like a man.”

The ghost fell silent and took the pomegranate from Hades, rolling it in his hands.

“Are you certain you are not him?” he said at long last. He smiled sorrowfully. “That.. sounds almost like what he would've said, in that moment.”

Hades did not answer immediately. Then he leaned in and kissed the mortal, brief and cold as death. “I will offer you twenty seeds,” he murmured against Will's lips. “The number of seeds you consume is the number of years I will take from your natural life, to be dispensed at my queen's pleasure.”

“I will eat the whole fucking fruit.”

“No,” insisted Hades, his lips brushing over the mortal's temple. “You have much to do yet, my Will Graham, you who walked by Hades' side without fear and talked with him without trepidation. Even offering twenty years feels selfish to me, but I would have you make your choice.”

The god split the fruit easily and plucked twenty seeds into Will Graham's open palm, bright juicy garnets that shone with divine power. Once Hades had counted the seeds out, Will plopped them all into his mouth without hesitation. Almost instantly, he choked and coughed, and warm breath issued from him.

The rest of the fruit Hades let fall to the ground, and swept the young man into his arms, carrying him into the god's quarters. Will Graham convulsed and gasped as the seeds burned their way into his soul. His eyes were wild and he grabbed at Hades when the god prepared to stand.

“Don't – don't, don't go, please,” he choked out. “Please. Please, don't, no-”

“I have to make ready my chariot.”

“Don't, please – Hannibal – I'll follow-” Will Graham's eyes were impossibly blue in the room, shrouded as it was from all light, and then they rolled up into whites when he passed out. Warmth crept through his skin and flesh; color stole into his cheeks and lips. 

Hades felt his throat close with yearning. He leaned down, pressing one kiss to Will Graham's brow and one to his lips – so warm and so human – and then drew away.

Persephone was standing at the door.  _Your chariot awaits._

_You knew I would send him away?_

_I suspected. You are a dutiful god,_ she said, a hint of a smile on her lips.

Hades rested against his wife for a brief moment.  _You know of this... Hannibal?_

 _Yes,_  she said.  _We are... intimate._

Persephone was a faithful wife. Hades looked at her, into her eyes, and saw the truth. He kissed her, frightened and yet yearning for what he might become. There would be pain and loss and sorrow and fear beyond measure, and also hope and joy and – perhaps – love.

 _Go, my dear,_  said Persephone softly.  _I will see him returned to whence he fell. Whereas you have quite a journey to experience before you meet him again. Perhaps this time, you will act differently._

_You will be there for me?_

_I will. You will find me, and you will trust me._ Persephone brushed her thumb over Hades' lower lip.  _Go._

*****

*****

“Did you believe you could change me, the way I’ve changed you? ” Hannibal asked.

“I already did,” stammered Will, staring up at Hannibal. He blinked and tried to stand. And then something behind his pained gaze shattered. “Ha...Hannibal. You're angry. Because. For all-all that you feel... like God...”

“...you made me feel like a man,” Hannibal finished, the words tumbling from his lips without his conscious control. He trembled. “Will... What've I done? What do I do?”

“Run,” Will whispered. “Run. Take Abigail. Go.”

Hannibal pressed a kiss to Will's brow and then to his lips. "Follow."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Polanetta for making that adorable sign for our dear Mads & Hugh to hold in that wonderful #SaveHannibal picture.
> 
> If you're on Twitter, come join in the #SaveHannibal fight! Look for me on [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/kt_adrienne)


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